President Joe Biden warned Americans to take Donald Trump’s election-denying, violent rhetoric seriously, in an interview with CBS News.
In an early clip of the interview, airing in full this Sunday, the president and former Trump opponent told CBS' Robert Costa that he is “not confident at all” that Trump will allow a peaceful transfer of power to Vice President Harris if he loses the race.
In his first TV interview since exiting the 2024 race, President Biden tells CBS News' @costareports he's "not confident at all" that a peaceful transfer of power will happen in January 2025 if former President Donald Trump loses.
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) August 7, 2024
"He means what he says. We don't take him… pic.twitter.com/uE4dj5Vzrs
“He means what he says. We don’t take them seriously,” Biden said, pointing to Trump’s comments that there would be a “bloodbath” should he lose the race. “Look what they’re trying to do now in the local election districts where people count the votes.”
Since 2020, multiple Trump-aligned election officials have refused to certify various local race results, citing unfounded fraud. A Rolling Stone report found that nearly 70 election officials across the country still denied the results of the 2020 race.
Biden, who warned as a candidate that Trump may strike against democracy again amid his calls to pardon January 6th rioters, dropped out of the race last month, citing the existential threat of a Trump presidency.
Before that decision, Trump had claimed on a debate stage that he would only accept the results of the election if they were, in his eyes, “a fair and legal and good election,” sowing doubt into the legitimacy of the race and sowing seeds for a second attack on voters.
“You can’t love your country only when you win,” Biden added
